Goblin-wrought silver
Goblin-wrought silver (also known as goblins' silver and goblin-made armour) is pure silver, forged and enchanted by goblins using goblin magic. They have been making it for at least a thousand years. Goblin-made silver possesses properties that wizardkind are incapable of reproducing.“Oh yes. It is a copy—en excellent copy, it is true—but it was Wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armour possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts bank.” - “Well, goblins won’t share any of their magic either,” said Ron. “You won’t tell us how to make swords and armour the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never –” - Properties According to Professor Phineas Nigellus Black, goblins' silver repels mundane dirt, meaning it does not require cleaning. It imbibes "only that which strengthens it"."“What we really wanted to know, Professor Black, is whether anyone else has, um, taken out the sword at all? Maybe it’s been taken away for cleaning—or something!” Phineas Nigellus paused again in his struggles to free his eyes and sniggered. “Muggle-born,” he said, “Goblin-made armour does not require cleaning, simple girl. Goblin’s silver repels mundane dirt, imbibing only that which strengthens it.”"- On one occasion, when Harry Potter killed a Basilisk with a weapon made from goblin-wrought silver by stabbing it through the roof of the mouth, this property caused the sword to absorb and gain the destructive properties of Basilisk venom."The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true — Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent’s mouth —" - “The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made blades imbibe only that which strengthens them—Harry, that sword’s impregnated with basilisk venom!”- According to Hagrid, goblins are able to make "indestructible" armour. Presumably this refers to goblin-wrought silver."Oh yeah. Firs' we presented him with a nice battle helmet -goblin-made an' indestructible, yeh know - an' then we sat down an' we talked.'"- However, Mundungus Fletcher believed he would be able to remove the engraving on the Black family's goblin-wrought silver goblets,"“Sirius,” said Mundungus, who did not appear to have paid any attention to the conversation, but had been closely examining an empty goblet. “This solid silver, mate?” “Yes,” said Sirius, surveying it with distaste. “Finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest.” “That’d come off, though,” muttered Mundungus, polishing it with his cuff."- although he never actually did so."“You took that from Sirius’s house,” said Harry, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and spirits. “That had the Black family crest on it.”" - Goblin-wrought silver is likely extremely valuable, as the notoriously tight-fisted Caractacus Burke considered 500 Galleons a fair price for a suit of armour made from it, and even then he was rebuffed."Mr Burke would like to make an improved offer for the goblin-made armour. Five hundred Galleons, he feels it is more than fair -" Mundungus Fletcher considered it valuable enough to steal, and was excited to discover some. The Lestrange family stored helmets made from it among their valuables at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. A thousand years ago, Ragnuk the First coveted the sword he had made from silver and rubies so much that he sent minions to steal it back. Known examples Griphook with the Sword of Gryffindor]] * Godric Gryffindor's sword * Black family's goblet * The inner doors of Gringotts. * Golgomath's battle helmet * Hepzibah Smith's armour * Helmets stored in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts."Harry’s wandlight passed over shields and goblin-made helmets set on shelves rising to the ceiling; higher and higher he raised the beam, until suddenly it found an object that made his heart skip and his hand tremble." - * Muriel's tiara (speculative) See also * Goblin-made ironwork * Silver * Silver shield Behind the scenes *Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry owns a large number of suits of armour. Whether any of these were made by goblins is unknown. *Goblin-wrought silver may have been inspired by , a fictional metal from the writings of . Mithril is a silvery metal that is only used by a single race (dwarves, in the case of Tolkien's writings) and valued for its use in making armour. Appearances * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Notes and references pl:Srebro Goblinów Silver Category:Object stubs Category:Silver Objects